Biotechnology

Biotechnology is a field of biology which exploits biological processes for industrial (the production of antibiotics, hormones, etc.) and other purposes.

History
Biotechnology has been employed by humans since the beginning of agriculture, including the selective breeding of corn (which originated from the teosinte grass, which crossed with other grasses to create corn), the start of agriculture and plant-breeding during the Neolithic period, and the domestication and selective breeding of animals. All modern breeds of dogs originate from the domestication of the grey wolf; dogs and the grey wolf are so similar that they are members of the same species (dogs and grey wolves can have viable, fertile offspring). Selective dog breeding was one of the examples used by Charles Darwin to validate his ideas of natural selection as the method of creating evolutionary changes originating from a common ancestor.